Saturday in Nogaro

28. June 2008Nogaro - Again the truck racers could enjoy a clear sky and bright sunshine. As there was a constant breeze at the Circuit Paul Armagnac, the temperatures of about 30 °C (86 °F) were quite bearable. In the first timed practice the Buggyra Freightliners with David Vrsecky and Markus Bösiger were again leading, however their advantage to their chasers was reduced to some tenths, compared to yesterday’s free practice. With 1:52.593 Vrsecky secured pole ahead of Bösiger and the MAN pilots Antonio Albacete, Jean-Philipp Belloc and Jochen Hahn. And in the first Qualy race, too, the two Buggyras demonstrated the exceptional position they have at present. Vrsecky took the lead ahead of Bösiger, and watching the two blue trucks bringing home a sure double win you got the impression that they were a lot more predominant than the 6.5 seconds they were ahead of the third placed, Albacete, revealed. Belloc, who had managed to pull away from Hahn, crossed the finishing line closely behind the Spaniard. Behind the German, Markus Altenstrasser (Renault) and Stuart Oliver (MAN) fought the most exciting battle in this race. The Englishman seemed to be a wee bit quicker than the Austrian in his red Renault and played a bit rough now and then. But Altenstrasser was not impressed and eventually crossed the line with an advantage of 4 tenths. The other pilots getting points were Egon Allgäuer, Chris Levett (both MAN) and Anthony Janiec (Renault).
In the Championship race Bösiger managed to take the lead from his team mate Vrsecky right from the start, the rest was obscured by a huge cloud of dust. In midfield Janiec, Pascal Robineau (MAN) and Frank Conti (Volvo) got into a tangle; Janiec and Robineau had to retire, but Conti managed to finish 15th in his battered truck.
The Circuit Paul Armagnac has got a characteristic very long straight – running parallel to the landing strip of a small airport – where the trucks at once gain the speed limit of 160 kmph, whereupon the truck is automatically blocked. That’s why normally nothing extraordinary happens there. But when entering the sharp right-hand bend after the long section Albacete succeeded in getting alongside Vrsecky on the left; two or three knocks from both sides, and in no time the Czech was in third place. Bösiger profited from that manoeuvre and managed to obtain an almost comfortable advantage. The Spaniard, too, pulled away from Vrsecky for a short time, but soon the Buggyra was back at the rear of the red Cepsa MAN. A bit later Vrsecky reclaimed his second place that had seemed to be lost for good. This was evidently a damper on Albacete’s fighting spirit, and he fell further behind lap after lap, while the Buggyra duo was heading for today’s second double victory. As the chasers of the Spaniard, Belloc, Hahn and Oliver, drove with great distance to each other as well as Albacete, the first six places were determined rather early. But for the positions 7 to 9 there was a fierce battle between the two MAN pilots, Allgäuer and Chris Levett, and together they chased Altenstrasser. The Renault pilot was first attacked by Allgäuer, who, in turn, had Levett at his heels. The three pilots constantly pushed the envelope – one slight mistake and the chaser would pass. And indeed, the Brit managed to overtake Allgäuer, and instantly started trying to conquer the second Austrian, too. However, the Renault pilot came across the line with a 3 tenths advantage. The remaining place for the points was achieved by Javier Mariezcurrena (MAN).
Later Levett incurred a 10 second penalty for overspeeding (more than the permitted 160 kmph), and consequently was now again behind Allgäuer.
Vrsecky is still leading with 159 points, Bösiger (152) is now again ahead of Albacete (151), followed by Hahn (106), Belloc (101), and Oliver (65).
The team ranking was won by Buggyra (Bösiger/Vrsecky), followed by Team Koller + Schwemmer (Hahn/Belloc), and Team Frankie (Vojtisek/Altenstrasser).